Photography News

Remembering Magnum Photographer Inge Morath

2012-05-27T12:39:00.000+03:00

"Photography is a strange phenomenon... You trust your eye and cannot help but bare your soul." (Inge Morath)

Inge Morath Self Portrait, Jerusalem, 1958

May 27, 2012 /Photography News/ Born 89 years ago today, on 27 May 1923, Ingeborg Morath was a photographer associated with Magnum Photos for nearly fifty years.

After studying languages in Berlin, she became a translator, then a journalist and the Austrian editor for Heute, an Information Service Branch publication based in Munich.

In 1949, Morath was invited by Robert Capa to join the newly founded Magnum Photos in Paris, where she started as an editor. She began photographing in London in 1951, and assisted Henri Cartier-Bresson as a researcher in 1953-54. In 1955, after working for two years as a photographer, she became a Magnum member.

Her work included striking portraits of both posed celebrities and fleeting images of anonymous passers-by. Her feeling for places as reflected in images of Boris Pasternak's home, Chekhov's house and Mao Zedong's bedroom was so sensitive that some viewers insisted they could see invisible people.

'Inge Morath possesses the priceless quality of making the world look as though it had been discovered only this morning and she was present with her lens to record its bright freshness,'' Harrison E. Salisbury wrote in The New York Times Book Review about the couple's book ''In Russia'' (Viking, 1969).

Morath married the playwright Arthur Miller on February 17, 1962 and relocated permanently to the United States, where she had previously had assignments.

Ingeborg Morath Miller died of cancer on January 30, 2002, at the age of 78.

Because Morath devoted much of her enthusiasm to encouraging women photographers, her colleagues at Magnum Photos established the Inge Morath Award in her honor. The Award is now given by the Magnum Foundation as part of its mission of supporting new generations of socially-conscious documentary photographers, and is administered by the Magnum Foundation in collaboration with the Inge Morath Foundation.

In Photos: Guyana Before Independence

2012-05-26T14:27:00.000+03:00

May 26, 2012 /Photography News/ Guyanese around the world celebrate the 46th Independence Day anniversary today, 26 May 2012.

Guyana has been a former colony of the Dutch, and for over 200 years of the British. It achieved independence from the United Kingdom on 26 May 1966 and became a Republic on 23 February 1970.

To understand this day's significance, we invite you to take a look back into Guyana's past through a set of photographs --courtesy of The Field Museum Library-- covering the 1922 Stanley Field Expedition to British Guiana led by Bror E. Dahlgren and John R. Millar.

Street with people, palm trees in background. 1922. Guyana, South America

Street with people, palm tree in background. Goats. 1922. Guyana, South America

Woman or girl standing outdoors, fence behind. She is holding a fruit specimen. Annona muricata. ANONACEAE. 1922. Guyana, South America

Street railway tracks. 1922. Georgetown, Guyana, South America

Two women carrying metal jugs of water or milk on their head, standing in street. 1922. Guyana, South America

Crowd of men, coconut oil at market. Georgetown. 1922. Georgetown, Guyana, South America

East Indians at their breakfast. 1922. Guyana, South America

Men, possibly barbers, and men getting haircuts and shave. 1922. Guyana, South America

Paramaribo market scene. Women and men. 1922. Paramaribo, Guyana, South America

Two young children, one crying. 1922. Guyana, South America

Market scene in Paramaribo. Fruit of Elaeis guineensis Palmae (oil palm) in baskets. Plant Industry. 1922. Paramaribo, Guyana, South America

Young girl. 1922. Guyana, South America

Two women with buckets seated at a stream of water or river. Bridge visible. 1922. Guyana, South America

All photos courtesy of The Field Museum Library.

The Field Museum is an educational institution concerned with the diversity and relationships in nature and among cultures. It provides collection-based research and learning for greater public understanding and appreciation of the world in which we live. Its collections, public learning programs, and research are inseparably linked to serve a diverse public of varied ages, backgrounds and knowledge. The formation of The Field Museum Library’s collections began in 1894 with initial transfers of books from the libraries of various departments of the World’s Columbian Exposition of 1893. Currently, the Library serves the Museum’s staff, visiting scholars and the general public.

Launch of Cannes 65 Gigapixels, the Largest Photo of France

2012-05-18T17:03:00.000+03:00

On the occasion of the 65th Cannes Film Festival, Kolor and Gigapixel Tour launch the largest photo of France, Cannes 65 Gigapixels

May 18, 2012 /Photography News - Kolor/ For the opening of the 65th Cannes Film Festival, the company Kolor and the website Gigapixel Tour pay homage to the city of the 7th art by publishing the biggest photo of France: Cannes 65 Gigapixels, a panoramic, interactive view of the bay of Cannes, la Croisette and the old town.

To establish this record, 6468 photos were taken from the tower of the Castre Museum and then stitched together using Autopano Giga software. The final 187-gigabit image was then processed with Panotour Pro software to allow for a smooth view on the internet.

Website: http://cannes.gigapixeltour.com
Project and photos: Gigapixel Tour
Software: Kolor Autopano Giga and Panotour Pro

Remembering Early 20th Century Pictorial Photographer Mary Devens

2012-05-17T10:43:00.000+03:00

May 17, 2012 /Photography News/ Born 155 years ago today, on 17 May 1857 in Ware, Massachusetts, Mary Devens was considered one of the ten most prominent pictorial photographers of the early 20th century.

She was listed as a founding member of Alfred Stieglitz’s famed Photo-Secession.

"The Ferry, Concarneau", a photograph by Mary Devens, c1904, Camera Work, No 7, 1904

Devens developed an interest in photography sometime in early life, with a strong interest in printing techniques that could be manipulated by the photographer, including ozotype, gum bichromate and platinum printing. She mastered the gum bichomate process so well that she gave a lecture on it to the Cambridge Photographic Club in 1896.

Mary Devens met Boston photographer F. Holland Day in 1890s, who personally submitted five of her prints to the London Photographic Salon of 1898 and was responsible for introducing her to photographer Alfred Stieglitz, with whom she would regularly correspond for many years. Day also promoted her work in his famous lecture "Photography as Fine Art" at the Harvard Camera Club in 1900 and included several of her prints in his 1901 exhibition “The New School of American Photography.”

Mary Devens - Charcoal Effect. Photogravure published in Camera Notes, 1902, c1901, Camera Notes, Vol 6 No 1, July 1902

In 1900-1901, several of her photographs were added to the important Paris exhibition of women photographers organized by Frances Benjamin Johnston.

In 1902 Devens was elected to Britain’s Linked Ring, and Stieglitz listed her as a founding member of the Photo-Secession. That same year Stieglitz also listed her as one of the ten most prominent American pictorial photographers in an article in Century Magazine.

About this same time Devens’ eyesight began to fail rapidly due to an unknown cause. After 1904 she showed only a few prints in exhibitions, although Stieglitz included her work in the inaugural exhibition at his Little Galleries of the Photo-Secession in 1905. She is not known to have engaged in any photographic activity after 1905.

Devens died on 13 March 1920 in Cambridge.

TeraBella Media Presents: “The Urban Landscape” Photo Contest

2012-05-09T10:11:00.000+03:00

Photo: Nicolas Noyes

May 9, 2012 /Photography News/ Skyscrapers and other buildings of steel, concrete and glass dominate the landscape of today’s cities. They are monuments to the skills and talents of the architects of the modern world. The landscape of a city is about the vertical view and about looking above toward the sky. This particular call for entry deals with tall buildings and the view from above and also below. TBM is seeking your best interpretations of the metropolitan scenery. Both color and black and white images will be accepted.

Prizes:

First Place: $500 (USD) cash prize
Second Place: $200 (USD) cash prize
Third Place: $100 (USD) cash prize
Three (3) honorable mentions will also be chosen.

Entry Fee(s):

$20 (USD) for first 4 images (Up to 8 image entries may be submitted for additional fees)
Color and/or Black and White images will be accepted.

Eligibility:

Contest is open to all individuals 18 years and older, worldwide.

Entry Deadline:

June 28, 2012 (11:59PM CST)

http://terabellamedia.com/photo-contest/

Hasselblad Masters Awards Competition Call for Entries

2012-05-02T16:26:00.000+03:00

May 2, 2012 /Photography News/ Hasselblad today announced that it is accepting submissions for the 2014 Masters Awards competition. The title of Master is awarded to one photographer in each of 12 categories in recognition of his or her contribution to the art of photography. Judging is based on photographic ability in the areas of creativity, composition, conceptual strength and technical skill.

Categories:

Fine Art
Landscape/Nature
Wedding/Social
Portrait
Fashion/Beauty
Editorial
Products
Architecture
General
Wildlife
Project//21
Underwater

To meet the rules of the competition you need to upload three (3) images in each category you choose to participate in, and you can enter all of the 12 categories should you wish.

Winners will be chosen based on the following criteria: (33%) originality of photograph, (33%) creativity, and (34%) photographic quality.

Prizes:

Hasselblad Masters 2014 winners will receive a trophy presented at Photokina 2014 and will be sponsored with Hasselblad camera equipment for a period of approximately four months. During this time the photographer can use the equipment at their discretion to create a set of images for a special Masters Commemorative book that will subsequently be published. All winning images will be published on the Hasselblad global website, in VICTOR magazine, will be presented at the exhibitions around the world and will feature in Hasselblad advertising and Masters Partners promotions and in the Hasselblad Masters Book Vol. 4.

Eligibility:

The Hasselblad Masters Competition is open to all photographers who have been active professionals for more than three years and who are using cameras of 16MP and above, regardless of brand and format. The “Project//21” Category is open to all photographers under the age of 21. The term “active professional” means making 51% of your income or more from photography.

Usage rights:

Entrants must grant Hasselblad the right to use the submitted images in Finalist exhibitions and online activities, which can include press articles, Hasselblad publications, VICTOR Magazine, Bulletin and website news.

Deadline: 31st August 2012

Submissions are being accepted from at www.hasselblad.com/masters-registration

Canvas, Framed, Giclée or Perspex Prints? Which Solution Is Right For You?

2012-04-29T14:33:00.001+03:00

April 29, 2012 /Photography News/ Whether you are a professional photographer or you are just starting out, you probably already know that choosing the best printing services possible for your specific needs has a large part to play in the quality of your ready-to-hang photographs.

Starting from only £27 you can create ready-to-hang gallery quality photos on to canvas. These are available in different sizes and finishes, printed at 1440dpi using an 8-colour pigment ink system with the most advanced Epson large format printers with ultrachrome technology. With point101.com, a certified printer member of the Fine Art Trade Guild, you can now just upload your picture using the most intuitive upload system that allows you to choose your desired canvas position, crop and border, while previewing your images in the virtual living room. Once the order had been placed and the print had been made, your canvas is hand stretched onto heavy duty 35 / 50mm wide by 38mm deep solid pine wood stretcher bar, resulting into a fade-free canvas that will last up to 85 years. Allowing you to custom size artwork to fit any home or office decor needs, these canvas prints are an amazing gift option for your loved ones.

If you are looking for high quality, short-run prints on the finest archival papers available, professional giclée printing using the finest quality Harman, Illford, Hahnemuhle and Fotospeed papers and the latest professional vivid archival inks is the right choice. Printed at 1440 dpi and using an 8-colour pigment ink system, the giclées mean sharper, more detailed prints, with a more impressive colour gamut. With point101.com you can choose to print your giclées in any standard sizes, panoramic formats and A sizes right up to 40” x 60” and A0, edge to edge or with a white, black or colored border.

Another highly demanded printing option is the Perspex print, an exciting medium on which photographers can print their photos. Printed directly on 100% water resistant 8mm thick polished acrylic while using the latest Inca Spyder technology and a single piece of solid polished perspex -with opaque or transparent finish- the Perspex art is equally suited to corporate environments as well as exhibitions.

Also available are services such as gallery-quality hand-finished frame and print for exhibitions. Printed onto the same type of fine art papers as the giclée prints (Harman, Illford, Hahnemuhle, Fotospeed, Photorag, Baryta, Illford Pearl, or Fotospeed Matt), your photos are then mounted and framed to the highest standard to fit any professional photographer's needs.

Whether you need professional prints for your upcoming exhibition, or want high quality and cost effective prints of your photos on to canvas for your home of office, point101.com offers a wide range of finishing options to choose from.

Photographer's Guide to the Fujifilm X10

2012-04-23T10:37:00.000+03:00

White Knight Press Releases Photographer’s Guide to the Fujifilm X10: Getting the Most from Fujifilm’s Advanced Digital Camera

Richmond, Virginia, April 22, 2012 /Photography News/ White Knight Press announces the release of Photographer’s Guide to the Fujifilm X10: Getting the Most from Fujifilm’s Advanced Digital Camera, by Alexander S. White. This 338-page book, a complete guide to the operation and features of the Fujifilm X10 digital camera, is a follow-up to the author’s earlier guides to advanced compact digital cameras, including the Fujifilm X100 as well as models by Leica, Panasonic, Canon, and Nikon. The new book explains all operations, features, menus, and controls of the Fujifilm X10 camera in clear language, providing guidance not only about how to accomplish things with the camera, but when and why to use certain features. The book does not assume any specialized knowledge by the reader, but explains topics such as shooting modes, autofocus, manual focus, depth of field, aperture priority, shutter priority, HDR (High Dynamic Range) photography, white balance, ISO, and macro photography.

The book also shows how to take advantage of the camera’s unique CMOS sensor with Fujifilm’s EXR technology. This special sensor enables the camera to be configured for high resolution, high sensitivity in dim lighting, or high dynamic range, depending on the lighting conditions the photographer is faced with. The book also provides guidance about the many the X10’s many other advanced settings, including adjustments for Color, Sharpness, Highlight Tone, Shadow Tone, and numerous others.

The guide’s more than 200 photographs, almost all in full color, provide illustrations of the camera’s controls and menus, and include examples of the various types of photographs that can be taken using the many creative settings of the camera, including the Film Simulation settings, which let the photographer alter the color processing and other aspects of images; various menu options such as Dynamic Range and Intelligent Digital Zoom; and the camera’s strong set of features for continuous shooting.

In addition, the book goes beyond everyday photography with introductions to more advanced topics such as infrared photography, astrophotography, digiscoping, street photography, and creating 3D (three-dimensional) images that can be viewed with conventional red and blue 3D glasses.

The book also includes a full discussion of the video recording abilities of the Fujifilm X10, which can capture high-definition (HD) video with stereo sound and can take silent slow-motion movies to enable studies of sports and other actions.

In three appendices, the book provides information about accessories available for the camera, including cases, filter adapters, and external flash units; sets forth a list of useful web sites and other resources for further information; and includes a section with “quick tips” that give particular insights into how to take advantage of the camera’s features in the most efficient ways possible.

The book includes a detailed Table of Contents and a full Index, so the reader can quickly find needed information about any particular feature or aspect of the camera. In the PDF version, the Table of Contents and Index are interactive, so the reader can click on a page reference to navigate to the desired topic instantly.

The book is available now in PDF format for download for $9.95 through http://www.whiteknightpress.com. The paperback version is available for $29.95 through Amazon.com. The book will be available in versions for the Kindle, Nook, and iPad by the end of April 2012.

Contact Information and Book Details:

Publisher: White Knight Press, Henrico, Virginia, USA
Author: Alexander S. White
Publication Date: April 8, 2012
ISBN: 978-1-937986-03-2 (paperback)
ISBM: 978-1-937986-00-1 (eBook)
Format: eBook or Perfect bound paperback, 5.5 x 8.5 inches (140 x 216 mm)
Interior: 338 pages, more than 200 mostly color photographs and illustrations, full Index and Table of Contents; 3 Appendices
Retail price: $29.95 paperback; $9.95 PDF download; $9.99 eBook formats
Web site: http://www.whiteknightpress.com
E-mail: contact@whiteknightpress.com

2012 “The Body in Motion” Photo Contest

2012-04-19T22:29:00.000+03:00

Photo: Benjamin Genet

April 19, 2012 /Photography News/ The human form is an extraordinary creation. It is capable of performing many different and varied physical activities. The camera is the perfect tool for capturing these actions. Whether it is the beautiful and graceful steps of a dancer, the skilled actions of an athlete or the simple and playful activities of a child, the human body is designed for movement. Profotio is seeking those images that best display the body in motion.

Eligibility: Open to all photographers 18 years and older. Color and/or Black and White images will be accepted.

Prizes: $600.00 cash prizes awarded

First Place: $300 cash prize. The winning image will be featured on the Profotio.com homepage slideshow
Second Place: $200 cash prize. The winning image will be featured on the Profotio.com homepage slideshow
Third Place: $100 cash prize. The winning image will be featured on the Profotio.com homepage slideshow
3 honorable mentions: The winning images will be featured on the Profotio.com homepage slideshow

Sponsor: Profotio

Deadline: June 1st, 2012 (11:59PM CST)

Website: http://www.profotio.com/contest.php

Hasselblad Launches New Free Phocus Software

2012-04-17T18:32:00.000+03:00

April 17, 2012 /Photography News/ Hasselblad has launched Phocus 2.6.6 * - a brand new version of its intuitive Phocus software, plus a new feature-rich Phocus Mobile 2.0 format for iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch.

Phocus Mobile enables wireless camera control - and the latest 2.0 version includes a host of new elements plus added access control.

Explained Peter Stig-Nielsen, Hasselblad Product Management Director: "Many discerning photographers across the world are already familiar with the sheer power and performance of this highly intuitive software package and this spring launch of Phocus 2.6.6 and Phocus Mobile 2.0 will make their imaging work more effective. Photographers can be wirelessly linked to a computer running Phocus - and now with the new 2.6.6 version, any number of Phocus Mobile clients can connect to the Phocus server simultaneously."

Phocus Mobile 2.0 significantly improves options for photographers to show and share their work during a shoot and also includes a 100% zoom function of images in the file browser; new GPS tagging; folder access control and a Demo Mode functionality. And all this is now available as a free download at the App Store."

Hasselblad says the innovative Phocus 2.6.6 software upgrade "provides uncompromising image quality and allows photographers to work quickly, efficiently and creatively with the world's most advanced image files."

Peter Stig-Nielsen added: "There is no question that Phocus 2.6.6 with Phocus Mobile 2.0 offer new functionality and innovations that will expand the options and speed up the workflow for time-pressed photographers."

Features in Phocus include:

•   Hasselblad Natural Color Solution (HNCS).
•   Sophisticated lens corrections for H and V System lenses.
•   Advanced tethered camera control.
•   Easy- to-use interface.
•   Extensive customization options for individual workflow scenarios.
•   License-free software with unlimited installations and no registration issues.
•   Live video.
•   Scene calibration and reproduction tools.
•   Highlight recovery, shadow fill, clarity and dust removal tools.

For more information go to: www.hasselblad.com/promotions/phocus-mobile-20

* for Mac OS only.

Photo Romania Festival Call For Entries

2012-04-07T12:39:00.000+03:00

April 7, 2012 /Photography News/ Photo Romania Festival has returned in 2012 with more than 150 amazing photography events running in Cluj from May 18 to June 18, 2012. This year the festival will include:

more than 100 exhibitions and multimedia screenings
photography book launches
opening receptions
photography competitions
artist talks
photography workshops
photography fairs
other cultural events (concerts, theatre plays)

PHOTO ROMANIA EXHIBITION CALL FOR ENTRIES:

Photo Romania is calling photographers (or groups of photographers) regardless of their age, nationality, themes and styles of photography, to submit bodies of work for solo or group exhibitions. Selected images will be showcased in art galleries, museums, libraries, public space and many other locations from 18 May until 18 June 2012.

Categories:

Photo series (8 - 20 images)
Multimedia (a combination of still photography with audio, video, graphics, etc.)

Entry Fee: 10 Euro

Exhibit Prints:

Printing, framing, and shipping/ repacking fees are the responsibility of the exhibiting artist. For the convenience of those not living in Romania, Photo Romania offers optional fine art printing and framing services at an additional (low) cost to the photographer.

Deadline: May 1st, 2012

Artwork Due: May 12, 2012

Exhibition Dates: May 18 - June 18, 2012

Submit your work at http://www.photoromaniafestival.ro/call-for-submissions/

PHOTO ROMANIA AWARD CALL FOR ENTRIES:

Theme: Photography is Life

Eligibility: The competition is open to anyone aged over 18 years

Prizes*:

Grand Prize: 1,500 euros shopping voucher from a camera equipment store
Popularity Award: an ultra performant tablet

*The prize taxes are paid in full by the organizers.

Entry fee: 10 Euro

Deadline: May 31, 2012

Submit your work at http://www.photoromaniafestival.ro/en/concurs/

2012 Photo Romania Festival Programme:

May 18: Opening reception
May 18 - 19: Photo Romania Marathon
May 21 - 27: Photo Romania Academy (workshops, conferences, screenings, talks)
June 1: Photography events for Children's Day
June 2 - 3: Photography Fair
June 4 - 7: Theatre in Pictures
June 8 - 10: Photo Romania Concerts
June 11 - 15: Photo Romania Competition
June 16: Photo Romania closing party

2012 Doorways and Passages Photo Contest

2012-03-27T10:50:00.000+03:00

March 27, 2012 /Photography News/ A door can simply be a way of leaving one room and entering another room. Some can be rather simple and plain while others can be grand and ornate. A door or doorway can lead us to an unknown destination full of surprises and mystery, or it can lead us to home and security. Doors can be obstacles that prevent us from seeing what is happening and they can hide all types of secrets. Profotio is seeking creative images that best represent what may be seen on either side of doors and what happens in their passageways.

Title: Doorways and Passages

Eligibility: Open to all photographers 18 years and older. Color and/or Black and White images will be accepted.

Prizes: $600.00 cash prizes awarded

First Place: $300 cash prize. The winning image will be featured on the Profotio.com homepage slideshow

Second Place: $200 cash prize. The winning image will be featured on the Profotio.com homepage slideshow

Third Place: $100 cash prize. The winning image will be featured on the Profotio.com homepage slideshow

3 honorable mentions: The winning images will be featured on the Profotio.com homepage slideshow

Sponsor: Profotio

Entry deadline: April 10, 2012 (11:59PM CST)

Website: http://www.profotio.com/contest.php

Photo: 1,500 Light-Years Away Nebula

2012-03-26T23:26:00.000+03:00

March 26, 2012 /Photography News/ Wispy tendrils of hot dust and gas glow brightly in this ultraviolet image of the Cygnus Loop Nebula, taken by NASA’s Galaxy Evolution Explorer. The nebula lies about 1,500 light-years away, and is a supernova remnant, left over from a massive stellar explosion that occurred 5,000-8,000 years ago. The Cygnus Loop extends more than three times the size of the full moon in the night sky, and is tucked next to one of the 'swan’s wings' in the constellation of Cygnus.

The filaments of gas and dust visible here in ultraviolet light were heated by the shockwave from the supernova, which is still spreading outward from the original explosion. The original supernova would have been bright enough to be seen clearly from Earth with the naked eye.

Source:NASA. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Remembering Wordsworth Donisthorpe, Inventor of the Kinesigraph

2012-03-24T11:24:00.000+02:00

Wordsworth Donisthorpe filmed London's Trafalgar Square traffic in 1890; these are the surviving 10 frames

March 24, 2011 /Photography News/ Born 165 years ago on March 24, 1847 in Leeds, Wordsworth Donisthorpe was an English individualist anarchist and inventor, pioneer of cinematography and chess enthusiast.

On 9 November 1876 Donisthorpe applied for a patent (B.P. 4,344) for the Kinesigraph, an apparatus 'to facilitate the taking of a succession of photographs at equal intervals of time, in order to record the changes taking place in or the movements of the object being photographed, and also by means of a succession of pictures so taken ... to give to the eye a representation of the object in continuous movement ...'

Donisthorpe's Kinesigraph camera was evidently inspired by the 'square motion' wool-combing machine designed by his father, with the 'falling combs' replaced with falling photographic plates. The camera was built, but how well it worked is not recorded.

On 24 January 1878, a letter from Donisthorpe, 'Talking Photographs', appeared in Nature, in which he suggested that his Kinesigraph, used in conjunction with Edison's recent invention the Phonograph, could produce a talking picture of Prime Minister William Gladstone.

Each individual photograph was to be illuminated by an electric spark and projected in sequence onto a magic lantern screen. The materials available for photography at that time did not lend themselves to motion picture work, and nothing else is heard from Donisthorpe on this subject until 1889, when he patented a film camera and projector. Louis Le Prince was living in Donisthorpe's home town of Leeds, and it may be that word of Le Prince's 1888 experiments revived Donisthorpe's interest in the problem.

The patent for Donisthorpe's new camera (B.P. 12,921), also called the Kinesigraph, was taken out jointly with William Crofts. It was a unique camera mechanism, which again had more in common with textile machinery than with other photographic devices. A shuttle carrying the film moved upwards as the film itself was pulled down, resulting in the film being stationary relative to the lens during each exposure. Development was entrusted to Crofts, and it was perhaps at a Camera Club lecture that he became aware of Eastman celluloid roll film. The new medium was ideal for their camera.

Some time between late 1889 and early 1891, Donisthorpe and Crofts set up their Kinesigraph in a building overlooking London's Trafalgar Square, and shot at least one short film. It is an evocative, multi-layered view. Foaming water from one of the famous fountains is framed against a sooty background of the domed National Gallery building, with the bustling traffic of pedestrians and horse-drawn omnibuses; ten frames survive.

This footage has not been contested as the first motion picture ever taken of the city of London.

In 1894 William Crofts died, and any hope that might have remained for the eventual success of the Kinesigraph project died with him, Donisthorpe never being able to acquire backing for the project of moving pictures.

Donisthorpe later invented a new language (Uropa), and assisted his sons in experiments with colour and sound motion pictures. He died on 30 January 1914.

London Festival of Photography Prize 2012 - Extended Deadline

2012-03-22T19:37:00.000+02:00

March 22, 2012 /Photography News/ As the festival expands in 2012, the London Festival of Photography Prize is an opportunity for photographers to submit projects for inclusion in a world-class exhibition celebrating the annual festival theme. Each year the festival will explore a relevant and far-reaching theme through photographic exhibitions, workshops, participatory activities and debates.

Theme: InsideOut: Reflections on the Public and the Private

This theme intends to explore the changing boundaries between the public and the private, as both physical and metaphorical concepts, and the social consequences of these shifts. Considering the role of photography as a tool for documentation, expression and collaboration, the festival is looking for work responding to the theme in its broadest interpretation.

Categories:

photo-series (still images only): 5-8 digital images JPEG format, max 7MB per image (minimum 72dpi, 2,000 pixels in width or height)
photo-film (multimedia): a link to a file embedded in YouTube or Vimeo, max 6 minutes. Photo-films must be a combination of still photography with at least one of the following additional media: audio/music/video/animation/graphics.

Eligibility:

The prize is open to all photographers aged 18+, anywhere in the world.

Prizes:

The first prize winner of each category will receive:

£1,000 cash
An all-expenses paid trip to London for the exhibition launch and awards ceremony to the value of £1,000
Major showcase of his/her work in a high-profile exhibition in central London during the 2012 festival
Personalised feedback and advice from two of members of the judging panel, plus an online advice session with Duckrabbit.info
Inclusion in prize winners catalogue
National and international press campaign

Five runners up in each category will receive:

Inclusion of their work in a high-profile exhibition in central London during the 2012 festival
Thames and Hudson photo books
Inclusion in prize winners catalogue

All entrants will receive up to £80 in vouchers and discounts including a £28.95 voucher to print their own photo book from Blurb.com, 20% off membership to the Royal Photographic Society and up to £30 off subscription (UK only) to the British Journal of Photography.

Extended Deadline: Thursday 5 April 2012, 11.59pm BST (London, UK time)

Exhibition dates: 1-17 June 2012

Exhibition Venue: TBC, Central London

For more information visit the London Festival of Photography Prize website.

“The Wonders of Water II” Photo Contest

2012-03-19T11:38:00.001+02:00

March 19, 2012 /Photography News/ Without doubt water is our most precious resource. In addition to being a life giving force, water can also supply us with joy and laughter. Water can express and represent many wonders including peace, tranquility, power and strength. Sometimes it can exude an air of mystery and lend itself to awe. TeraBella Media is most interested in viewing images that display the relationship between Humankind and water as well as images that reveal the qualities of this precious resource.

Eligibility:

Contest is open to all individuals 18 years and older, worldwide.

Black and white and/or color images will be accepted. The images of water may be represented in all of its forms: liquid, solid (ice) or gaseous states.

Prizes:

First Place: $500 (USD) cash prize
Second Place: $200 (USD) cash prize
Third Place: $100 (USD) cash prize
Three (3) honorable mentions will also be chosen.

Entry fees:

$20 (USD) for first 4 images (up to 8 image entries may be submitted for additional fees)

Deadline: April 15, 2012 (11:59PM CST)

Website: “The Wonders of Water II” Photo Contest

$5,000 Manuel Rivera-Ortiz Foundation for International Photography Grant

2012-03-18T11:52:00.000+02:00

March 18, 2012 /Photography News/ The Manuel Rivera-Ortiz Foundation for International Photography is currently seeking to award one outstanding global, social documentary photographer with a grant of $5,000 USD to be utilized in the production or completion of a social documentary project. The pre-approved project must be produced in the photojournalistic tradition of Manuel Rivera-Ortiz, Foundation Founder & President. The winning project must be based on such pressing social issues in developing nations as health, poverty, oppression, war, famine, religious/political persecution, and much more.

Eligibility:

Photographers of all nationalities who are 18 years of age or older are eligible to apply. Submit your one-page proposal, a portfolio sample of your current work black & white or color. Only new and continuing projects are eligible.

Copyright:

Copyright and all other rights remains with you the author. All entrants understand that The Manuel Rivera-Ortiz Foundation for International Photography may use images of the winning project for marketing and promotional purposes of Foundation activities including at media events such as exhibitions, print and digital media directly related to our award competition. There will be no monetary compensation for such events. Use may include publication on The Manuel Rivera-Ortiz Foundation's website, media sponsored publications and promotional materials. Winning photographer agrees to grant The Manuel Rivera-Ortiz Foundation for International Photography non-exclusive reproduction rights of his/her images, essay and resume for exclusive promotional, editorial and publicity purposes. Any photograph(s) they use will carry the photographer’s credit line.

Deadline: May 31, 2012

Website: For more information on the Grant Program please check www.mrofoundation.org

Design Your Own Photo Book With PrintLuna

2012-03-14T19:38:00.000+02:00

March 14, 2012 /Photography News/ Photo books are a great way to celebrate the most important events in life. Be it your wedding, your graduation, the birth of your baby, or an anniversary, printing your own book and sharing it with your family and friends is one of the best ways to preserve your memories.

PrintLuna enables you to design, publish, and sell your own text and photo books in a few easy steps, with no need to download any software prior to beginning creating your photo book. The online Book Builder software allows you to easily upload the photos you want and customize the look of your album. You can simply import photos from your Facebook, Flickr or Picasa profiles, or upload them directly from your computer.

PrintLuna books are available in a variety of sizes, from the 5x8, 7x9 and 7x9.5 inch standard portrait book sizes, to the 6×6 or 12x12 inch square and the 9x7 inch landscape book size in hard and soft cover, with prices starting at $7.71. The company also offers discounts for volume purchase of each individual book title which can get you up to 15% off for a volume purchase of up to 399 pieces of an individual book title.

PrintLuna's prices are definitely affordable and -either for yourself or for the world- their photo album books can be a great option for those on a budget.

In Photos: Remembering Diane Arbus and Her Profound World

2012-03-14T13:12:00.000+02:00

March 14, 2012 /Photography News/ Born into a wealthy Jewish family in New York 89 years ago on March 14, 1923, Diane Arbus made her reputation photographing people on the margins of society: losers, misfits, nudists, transvestites, prostitutes, the mentally retarded, sideshow freaks, and almost anyone who seemed not to fit in easily with her upper middle class background. And occasionally she photographed celebrities, sometimes to their dismay.

Diane Arbus, Untitled (3), 1970-71, © The Estate of Diane Arbus. Courtesy of Masters of Photography

At age 18 Diane married Allan Arbus (divorced 1969), an employee at her family’s store. Before separating, they worked collaboratively, first taking photographs and creating advertisements for the store, then creating commercial fashion photography for Harper’s Bazaar, Show, Esquire, Glamour, The New York Times, and Vogue.

Eddie Carmel, Jewish Giant, taken at
Home with His Parents in the Bronx, NY, 1970

After taking a brief photography course with Berenice Abbott, Arbus met Lisette Model, an Austrian-born documentary photographer, and studied with her from about 1955 to 1957. With Model’s encouragement Arbus gave up commercial work to concentrate on fine-art photography. In 1960 Esquire published Arbus’s first photo-essay, in which she effectively juxtaposed privilege and squalor in New York City. Thereafter she made a living as a freelance photographer and photography instructor.

Unlike many photographers with whom she overlapped, like Henri Cartier Bresson and Robert Frank, Arbus would often meet a subject and form a long relationship, the diaries and date books show. It could take 10 years for her to produce her best photographs of that subject.

Identical Twins, Roselle, New Jersey, 1967

Arbus' best-known single work is her haunting photograph of side-by-side twin girls, whose identical faces are just enough different that they seem like a paradigm of good and evil, darkness and light. Stanley Kubrick liked them so much he alluded to the pair with the creepy children who haunt the giant hotel in his movie "The Shining."

Toward the end of her life, she explicitly described her work in those terms. "I do feel I have some slight corner on something about the quality of things. I mean it's very subtle and a little embarrassing to me, but I really believe there are things which nobody would see unless I photographed them."

Arbus experienced "depressive episodes" during her life similar to those experienced by her mother, and the episodes may have been worsened by symptoms of hepatitis. Arbus wrote in 1968 "I go up and down a lot," and her ex-husband noted that she had "violent changes of mood." On July 26, 1971, while living at Westbeth Artists Community in New York City, Arbus took her own life by ingesting barbiturates and slashing her wrists with a razor. Her good friend Marvin Israel found her body in the bathtub two days later; she was 48 years old.

Diane Arbus, Teenager with a Baseball Bat, NYC, 196

Today Arbus, who once said her pictures sought to capture “the space between who someone is and who they think they are,” has become one of America’s best-known photographers and one of its most controversial.

Diane Arbus, Untitled (1), 1970-71, © The Estate of Diane Arbus. Courtesy of Masters of Photography

A collection of her photos was published in 1972 in connection with a successful major exhibition of her work at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. That same year her work was shown at the Venice Biennale, marking the first time that an American photographer received that distinction. In 2003 an extensive exhibition of her work opened at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and later traveled throughout the United States and Europe. An accompanying book, Diane Arbus Revelations (2003), contained some 200 photographs as well as excerpts from her letters and notebooks. In 2007 Arbus’s estate gifted her complete archives—including photographic equipment, diary pages, and the negatives of some 7,500 rolls of film—to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.

Diane Arbus, Mexican dwarf in his hotel room in N.Y.C., 1970, © The Estate of Diane Arbus. Courtesy of Masters of Photography

Diane Arbus, Untitled (7), 1970-71, © The Estate of Diane Arbus. Courtesy of Masters of Photography

Diane Arbus, A young man with curlers at home on West 20th Street, N.Y.C., 1966, © The Estate of Diane Arbus. Courtesy of Masters of Photography

Child with Toy Hand Grenade in Central Park, New York City (1962)

The Graveyard of Giants. A Photo Essay by Jan Møller Hansen

2012-03-12T16:57:00.000+02:00

by Jan Møller Hansen

March 12, 2012 /Photography News/ Ship breaking in Bangladesh started back in 1960 when the Bay of Bengal was struck by a cyclone, which left a giant cargo ship beached near the sea shore of Fauzdarhat near Chittagong. The ship owners abandoned the wreck, and local metal workers slowly began to scrounge it for scrap metal and material. In 1974, a salvaged Pakistani navy vessel, which was sunk during the Bangladeshi liberation war, was scrapped by Karnafully Metal Works. These two incidences are considered to be the beginning of the ship breaking industry in Bangladesh.

The Graveyard of Giants

The ship breaking industry gradually grew since then, and by the mid 80s Bangladesh had become one of the major ship breaking nations in the world. Some of the world’s largest decommissioned ships are today scraped at the shores north of Chittagong, which is the second largest city and major sea port in the country. Environmental policies and laws were not enforced, labour salaries were among the lowest in the world and there were no standards for occupational health and labour safety. Obviously there were plenty of opportunities to exploit people and the environment when moving forward with the ship breaking business.

Ship breaking on the beach, which already at that time was prohibited in most countries, could be done in Bangladesh without any concern. Poverty and millions of people without education were looking for livelihood ooportunities. They provided cheap and exploitable human man power needed for the ship breaking industry. No major investments were required for engaging in ship breaking.

Workers with blowtorches

The present type of ship breaking in Bangladesh just require a large winch, some blowtorches and maybe a bulldozer. Rest of the operation is just raw human man power. Labour is extremely cheap, environmental and labour standards are loosely applied and no pre-cleaning of the ships are required for entering the ship breaking beach in Chittagong. Ship breaking is therefore a lucrative business with few risks for the yard owners, investors and money lenders.

The ship breaking industry in Bangladesh is estimated worth an annual turn over of around 1.5 billion dollars. Globally some 700 ocean-going vessels are scrapped each year, and more than 100 of them are scrapped in Bangladesh. Some of the ships are 350 meter long with a weight up to 10-15.000 tons. It is estimated that app. 30 percent of the world’s Light Displacement Tonnes (LDT) were scrapped in Bangladesh during the period 2000-2010. Since then the business has been slightly declining due to the global recession and more strict enforcement of national laws and regulations. But the business is now picking up again, and the number of ship yards increases year by year.

Ship breaking generates a lot of jobs, and it is estimated that some 30-50.000 people are directly employed in the ship breaking industry in Bangladesh. Additionally, another 100.000 are indirectly involved in the business. Most of the labourers are hired by the ship yards through local contractors on a ship by ship basis. A labourer earns around 1-3 dollars per day depending on the type of work. Some 300-500 people are typically employed on a temporary basis for dismantling a ship, and many more are employed in downstream activities for recycling of all kind of materials from the ships.

The Graveyard of Giants

Some of the recycled materials are exported, and the rest is sold of and reused in Bangladesh. A lot of the materials are of high value to the local economy. In particular, recycling of steel for producing iron rods for construction, plates for new ships or for many other purposes is a lucrative business. Up to 70-80 percent of the steel used in Bangladesh is believed to originate from the ship breaking yards in Chittagong. One of the most valuable parts of a ship is the propeller, which is often worth 50.000-100.000 dollars. Propellers and other high value items are exported to other countries.

It is estimated that there are around 100 ship breaking yards along the coast north of Chittagong, and every year new yards are being constructed. The ship yards are owned by politicians and business people.

Two workers on site

The ship breaking practices applied in Bangladesh are strictly prohibited by most countries in the world due to very dangerous nature of the work and the huge environmental implications. It is the so-called beaching method that is being used in Bangladesh. The ship is sailed with maximum speed during the high tide and will be beached over the flat muddy land where it is completely dismantled by semi- and unskilled labourers during the low tide. Beaching is considered a specialised operation. The captain on board has to calculate the movement of the tides, the swell and the wind by the minute. The closer the ship is beached to the shore, the more profitable it becomes for the ship yard owner. The gigantic ships are ripped apart by blowtorches and large steel parts are taken to shore with use of electric winches. Most work is done by raw human man power.

Two workers taking a rest

One might think that a ship to be scrapped has no value and is a liability rather than an asset. But on the contrary, the scrapping business is so lucrative that the ship breakers are paying for receiving the ships to be scrapped. A ship breaker will typically buy a ship to be scrapped for around 4-10 million dollars depending on the size and quality of the ship. The purchase of a ship is often done through a middleman, who links the local buyers with the international sellers. The ship breaker takes a loan in a local bank often with a high interest rate, and the full loan is repaid in six months time when the ship is completely ripped apart and all the scrap is sold to international and national buyers. Outdated and scrapped ships, which previously where a liability, is now a great asset.

Working in the ship breaking yards is a very dangerous job, which involves many human health risks. Workers are often exposed to asbestos used for insulation in older ships and from paint containing lead, cadmium and arsenic. It is not seldom that workers die caused by gas poisoning or explosions and fires. Old ships are imported without pre-cleaning or removal of toxic gases and dangerous materials. Each ship contains an average of 7000 - 8000 kilo of asbestos and 10 - 100 tons of lead paint.

The Chair

Sometimes gases explode killing workers. It also happens that workers are crushed by tumbling or falling steel parts. Sometimes workers fall from the high sides of ships on which they are working without safety harnesses. Many of the oxyacetylene cutters work without goggles. Few wear shoes, let alone protective clothing. Local organisations in Bangladesh estimate that some 1000-2000 workers have died in the last 30 years, and many more have suffered serious injuries. General health statistics show that the percentage of people with disabilities in the Chittagong area is above average for the country as a whole, because many workers have lost limbs or got other disabilities from working in the ship breaking yards.

A worker. The ship yards employ some 30.000 people. It is believed that app. 20 percent of the work force are children.

The labourers lack basic equipment. When a new ship arrives, there are containers, chambers and tanks, which contain oil, petroleum and poisonous gases. One method used for checking the level of danger in these parts of the ship is to lower down chickens in a string to check whether there are dangerous gases. If the chickens survive, the first workers will enter to clean for oil, petroleum and other flammable substances. The flammable substances are often burned off before the cutters enter to rip the ship apart. Gas explosions is a common phenomenon.

Two workers on site

It is estimated that half of the workers are under 22 years and nearly half of them are illiterate. Some believe that up to around 20 percent of the total work force consist of children. The workers are poor and they have no other alternatives for supporting themselves and their families than to work in the ship breaking yards. There are often no other job alternatives for them. The workers do not know much about rules and regulations on basic occupational health standards and safety. The labourers or their families are poorly compensated when injured or killed.

The Government of Bangladesh has recently introduced new national policies and legislation to improve the environmental and occupational health and safety standards in the ship breaking yards. But there is a long way to go. Governance is poor, and enforcement of policies and laws is often non-existent. Politicians and decision makers have vested interests in the industry, and corruption is wide spread making it difficult to enforce rules and regulations.

In recent years, the ship breaking industry in Bangladesh has been declining due to the global recession and the introduction of new tougher national policies and regulation. But the industry scents morning air. Critics claim that an international convention on ship recycling adopted by the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) in January 2010 perpetuates hazardous and polluting ship breaking on the beaches of the world’s poorest countries, while obstructing transitions to safer and greener forms of ship recycling. An EU ban on single-hull tankers and phase-out regulations and an accelerated phasing-in of double-hulled oil tankers have also meant new business opportunities for the ship breaking industry in Bangladesh.

Worker in orange

A number of new ship breaking yards are under construction on the beach north of Chittagong. One of the world’s largest middle men in the global ship breaking business, the owner of Global Marketing Systems, estimates that one third of the world’s ships need to be scrapped in the coming years. No doubt that the industry is gearing up for new business opportunities.

The Graveyard of Giants

The workers in the ship breaking yards are clear on two things: that they will die early and that there have been no improvements over the last thirty years in terms of worker rights, health and safety.

In this exhibit you can see a few photos from the ship breaking beach in Chittagong.

About the photographer:

Jan Møller Hansen is a self-taught and passionate photographer. He shoots with the best equipment from Canon. Photography is not his profession - it is his passion. He works for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark and presently serves as the Danish Deputy Ambassador to Bangladesh. Jan Møller Hansen presently lives in Dhaka. http://janmoellerhansen.smugmug.com/

Remembering Inventor and Pioneering Photographer Jules Dubosq

2012-03-05T16:13:00.000+02:00

March 5, 2012 /Photography News/ Born on March 5, 1817, Louis Jules Dubosq was a French instrument maker, inventor, and pioneering photographer.

"Still life with skull", by Louis Jules Duboscq, ca. 1850

In 1844 David Brewster invented the stereoscope, a new invention that could take photographic images in 3D. Later, Louis Jules Duboscq took Brewster's invention, improved on it, began to manufacture the apparatus as well as to produce stereoscopic images.

In 1851, Dubosq dispayed his pictures in London where the stereoscope attracted the attention of Queen Victoria during one of her visits at Crystal Palace. As a consequence several British and continental makers started to produce stereoscopes and stereoscopic images, and within a few years hundreds of thousands of stereoscopes were sold.

In 1855, together with the chemist Henri Edme Robiquet, Dubosq improved the method of preserving dry collodion plates, and in 1861, he proposed the polyconograph, a camera attachment with a series of movable plateholders, which made it possible to produce a large number of small pictures on a single plate.

In the 1860s the famous microphotographs of Rene Dagron were produced with Dubosq's equipment, and in the same years Dubosq presented an arc-light apparatus for enlarging photographic images.

Dubosq also made several pioneering experiments on moving image technology.

Among other instruments he built were a colorimeter, a polarimeter, and a heliostat.

Duboscq won medals at the World's Fair in London in 1851, and in Paris in 1855 and 1856. In 1853 he published Practical Rules For Photography which discussed his apparatus. He was also an Officer of the Legion of Honour.

Dubosq died on September 24, 1886.

Remembering Photographer Margrethe Mather

2012-03-04T12:57:00.000+02:00

Imogen Cunningham's 1922 portrait of
Margrethe Mather and Edward Weston

March 4, 2012 /Photography News/ Born on March 4, 1886, Margrethe Mather was a photographer who --through her exploration of light and form-- helped to transform photography into a modern art.

Despite her amazing body of work, Margrethe Mather remains an enigmatic figure, being best known for her association with Edward Weston, widely renowned as one of the twentieth century's most important photographers. However, many consider Mather to have been Weston's mentor and teacher. She shared with him her intuitive eye for composition and her innate sense of artistic style, teaching him how to edit an image to its very essence. Being a part of the growing bohemian cultural scene in Los Angeles, she also introduced him to her circle of bohemian friends, who taught him to view life from a variety of perspectives. In turn, Weston encouraged Mather to exhibit her work and compete for recognition.

Margrethe Mather was very outgoing and artistic in a flamboyant way, and her permissive sexual morals were far different from the conservative Weston at the time - Mather had been a prostitute and was bisexual with a preference for women.

Since Mather and Weston met in 1913 they worked together until he departed for Mexico in 1923 with Tina Modotti.

Player on the yit-kim, by Margrethe Mather, Los Angeles, Cal.

The photographs Mather made, both alone and in collaboration with Weston, helped set the stage for the shift from pictorialism to modernity. Many of her photographs were more experimental than those being produced by her contemporaries.

Mather died on December 25, 1952.

Her work is featured in the book, Margrethe Mather & Edward Weston: A Passionate Collaboration (W.W. Norton & Santa Barbara Museum of Art, 2001).

In Photos: Remembering Architectural Photographer Robert Macpherson

2012-02-27T10:14:00.000+02:00

February 27, 2012 /Photography News/ Born on February 27, 1814, Robert Turnbull Macpherson was a Scottish artist and photographer who worked in Rome, Italy in the 19th century.

During his initial years in Rome, Macpherson practiced his art as a painter. While records exist of several works between 1840 and 1845, his only known surviving work is a large oil painting of the Roman Campagna, dated 1842. In addition to painting, he worked as an art dealer.

In 1851, having failed to achieve notice as a painter, Macpherson turned to the new art of photography, using albumin on glass negatives. By 1856 he had transitioned to collodio-albumin, allowing the easier transport of dry plates. He typically utilized large-format negatives and long exposure times to attain exceptional detail of Roman architecture, monuments, ruins, landscapes, and sculptures. His work emphasized careful composure of scenes to capture three-dimensional architectural relationships on the two-dimensional photographic medium. Macpherson emphasized the artistic aspects of his photography, stating in 1863 that "I remain a photographer to this day, without any feeling that by doing so I have abandoned art, or have in any way forfeited my claim to the title of artist."

By the early 1860s, Macpherson's photographic career was near its zenith, with exhibitions in Edinburgh and London. His work received critical acclaim, with "subjects chosen with fine taste and the pictures executed with skill and delicacy."

Macpherson was the first photographer permitted to photograph inside the Vatican, and in 1863 published Vatican Sculptures, Selected and Arranged in the Order in which they are Found in the Galleries, a guide book to 125 Vatican sculptures featuring woodcut illustrations carved by his wife from his photographs.

By the late 1860s Macpherson's fortunes were in decline. His health had deteriorated due to malaria, and the increasing political instability in Rome reduced the stream of British tourists that made up much of his customer base. At the same time, technical advances in photography moved the medium from the realm of artists to that of a commodity.

Robert Macpherson died on 17 November 1872, and was buried at San Lorenzo fuori le Mura in Rome, though his grave has since been lost.

Over the course of his photography career, Macpherson cataloged 1,019 photographs. Today, a significant number of Macpherson works are held at the George Eastman House, the J. Paul Getty Museum, the Courtauld Institute of Art, and the British School at Rome. Smaller collections are found worldwide.

Roma - Trinita dei Monti, By Robert MacPherson (1811-1872), via Wikimedia Commons

Rome, Arch of Titus, 1860s. In this part of Titus' triumphal procession, the treasures of the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem are being displayed to the Roman people. Hence the Menorah. Photograph, albumen print, 40.8 x 31 cm

Tomba di Cecilia Metella, By Robert MacPherson (1811-1872), via Wikimedia Commons

Tivoli - Fountain of Egeria, By Robert MacPherson (1811-1872), via Wikimedia Commons

Temple of Vesta at Tivoli, ca. 1858, By Robert MacPherson (1811-1872), via Wikimedia Commons

The Theatre of Marcellus, from the Piazza Montanara, ca. 1858, By Robert MacPherson (1811-1872), via Wikimedia Commons

Rome - St. Peter's Dome in the Vatican, Before 1872, By Robert MacPherson (1811-1872), via Wikimedia Commons

Rome - Loggia of Raphael in the Vatican Palace, Before 1872, By Robert MacPherson (1811-1872), via Wikimedia Commons

Rome - Trajan's Forum and column, Before 1872, By Robert MacPherson (1811-1872), via Wikimedia Commons

The Chiaramonti Museum, one among the Vatican Museums, Before 1872, By Robert MacPherson (1811-1872), via Wikimedia Commons

In Photos: Remembering Karl Bulla, the Father of Photo-Reporting in Russia

2012-02-26T15:21:00.000+02:00

February 26, 2012 /Photography News/ Born in Leobschütz in Prussia on February 26, 1855 (or 1853 -- his exact birth year is unclear), Carl Oswald Bulla was a prominent Russian photographer, often referred as the "father of photo-reporting in Russia".

In 1865 Bulla ran away from his family in Russia, to St. Petersburg, where 10 years later he opened his first photographic studio, and in 1886 he received the permit from the St. Petersburg Police allowing him to take pictures anywhere outside his studio and to become more involved into photography of city life.

At the end of the 19th century newspaper printing technology allowed the publishing of photographs. In 1894 Russian Department of Post and Telegraphs also allowed use of postcards. Both events significantly increased the demand for Bulla's images. At that time, his advertisment read: "The oldest photographer-illustrator Karl Bulla photographs for the illustrated magazines anything and anywhere without limits from the landscape or the building, indoor or outdoor day or night at the artificial light".

In 1916 Bulla passed the management of his firm "Bulla and sons" to his sons Alexander and Victor and moved to Ösel Island (currently Saaremaa, Estonia). He lived a quiet life there, photographing the local ethnographic material and teaching Estonian boys the basics of photography until his death in 1929.

In 1935 the son of Karl, Victor Bulla donated to the State Archive of Leningrad District 132,683 negatives of Bulla's photographs. The archive grew and now consists of more than 200,000 negatives of works by Karl Bulla and his sons.


Left: Medical inspection (or medical study), 1900s. Right: Group with poles, 1900s

Left: 1900s. Right: Lunch in the kitchen for the poor, 1910

Left: Street scene. Right: Ukrainian/Russian aviators Igor Sikorsky,Genner, Kaulbars in the airplane "Russian Vityaz", 1915

Left: Self-portrait by Karl Bulla. Middle: Grigory Rasputin, Major General Putyatin and Colonel Lotman, 1904-1905. Right: Leonid Andreyev and his wife, Countess Anna Wielhorska, 1903

Left: Leo Tolstoy, 1902. Right: Vladimir Bekhterev

Left: Catastrophy of Egyptian Bridge in Saint Petersburg, February 2, 1905. Right: Apraksin Dvor on fire, July 3, 1914

Left: Former Deputies of Russian State Duma arrive to Vyborg to sign the Vyborg Manifesto, July 1906. Right: Photo taken in May 1912

Left: Trams ride on the ice of Newa river, Saint-Petersburg, end of 19th or just the beginning of 20tn century. Photo from the collection of Hermitage museum, cca. 1900. Right: Ilya Repin reads the news about Leo Tolstoy death. Present Korney Chukovsky and Nordman-Severova (Repin's wife). November 1910, Kuokkala

2012 Photo Contests With Cash Prizes - PictureCompete™

2012-02-25T09:35:00.000+02:00

February 25, 2012 /Photography News/ Owned and managed by the TBM Photography Network, PictureCompete is a creative platform for all photographers of all skill levels. Seeking exciting and sometimes unusual images, TBM's goal is to discover, through this platform, new and interesting photo works. PictureCompete sponsors six competitions yearly and awards the winners with cash prizes and an exhibition of their images in an online gallery.

Current photo contests:

The Perfect Pet
Home
Childhood

Eligibility: Open to all 18 years and older

Prizes: $675.00 total cash prizes. All winning images will be displayed in winners' gallery online.

Each entrant may enter any one competition or all three contests.

Sponsor: PictureCompete

Deadline: April 17, 2012

Website: http://picturecompete.com/photo-contests/